Million more children threatened with poverty due to Government policy

6 November 2017

Government policy has created an austerity generation, threatening to send one million more children into poverty, a new report warns.

Research revealed that families already at greater risk of poverty, such as lone parents and those with a disability, will suffer the most from cuts to their income.

The report said cuts to Universal Credit will put one million more children into poverty, warning that the long-term impact of austerity policies will be felt for years to come.

The promise of greater rewards from work made to working families has been "broken" because of cuts to Universal Credit and tax credits, said the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Losses for working families from cuts in the tax credit system average £930 a year and £420 a year from cuts to Universal Credit, the analysis found.

A full-time working couple on the national living wage would have to work 17 extra days a year to make up losses caused by cuts in work allowances, said the report.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the CPAG, said the report was "straightforward and shaming".

She added: "Since 2010, rather than investing in our children, government policy has been creating an austerity generation whose childhoods and life chances will be scarred by a decade of political decisions to stop protecting their living standards.

"The promise of increased rewards from work made to families with children under the new Universal Credit benefit has been broken.

"The Universal Credit we see today is not the Universal Credit that was sold to everyone a few years ago.